hate crime

noun

: any of various crimes (such as assault or defacement of property) when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (such as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation)

Examples of hate crime in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Thousands of other government web pages had also been taken down or modified, including content about vaccines, hate crimes, low-income children, opioid addiction and veterans, before a court order temporarily blocked part of the sweeping erasure. —Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2025

He was also convicted of targeting the church because of the congregants’ Christian faith, making the act a hate crime. —Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 4 Apr. 2025

The district said whether the incident qualifies as a hate crime was for law enforcement to decide. —Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 2 Apr. 2025

In Canada, there is currently a legislative initiative underway to declare such denialism a hate crime. —Phillip Whiteman Jr., The Denver Post, 23 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hate crime

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime

Kids Definition

hate crime

noun

plural hate crimes

: any of various crimes (as assault) when motivated by hostility to the victim based on social characteristics (as color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin)

Legal Definition

hate crime

noun

: a crime that violates the victim's civil rights and that is motivated by hostility to the victim's race, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender